Knitting-machine.



1%. 741,113. PATENTEDOGI. 13, 1903.

' R. I. GREE-LMAN.

KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILE-1) JAN. 3. 19oz.

- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1;

N0 MODEL.

I Etlii: ziii i 'N0'. v41.,'11s.- I PATENTED 001. 13, 1903. I R. I.GREELMAN.

f KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATLON FILED JAN. 3. 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

UNITE STATES Patented October 13, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE;

RICHARD, IRVINE CREELMAN, OF GEORGETOWN, CANADA.

- KNlTTlNG -MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent 1%. 741,1 13, cases October13, 1903. Application filed January 3,1902. Serial No. 88,341. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, RICHARD IRVINE OREEL- MAN, manufacturer, of the townof Georgetown, in the county of Halton, in theProvince 5 ofOntario,Oauada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inKnitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in i knitting-machines,andisparticularlyadapted to those of the circular type; and the object of theinvention is to devisea simple attach ment whereby various garmentsmaybe knitted, either striped on the exterior and plain on the interior,or striped on the exterior and looped on the interior, or plain on theexterior andlooped on the interior, or the length of the stitchcontrolled in ordinary knitting in a simple, cheap, and efficientmanner; and it consists, essentially, of a toothed Wheel having suitableor specially-formed teeth adapted to mesh with the needles in.thecylinder,-such wheel being provided with means whereby it may beadjusted both vertically and radially in relation to the needles, andthe parts being otherwise arranged and constructed in detail ashereinafter more particularly explained.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a circularo knitting machine providedwith my improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail showing the loop asit is being formed. Fig. 3 is a radial section through thesupporting-arm, wheel, and yarn-guide. Fig. i is a detail of 5 the wheelparticularly adapted to produce loops on the inside. Fig. 5 representsan enlarged view of the wheel J and the coacting portions, showing themanner in which the two threadsengage with the teeth and the needles.

a portion of the fabric as knitted into a striped material with theenlarged loops in the inner side. Fig.7 is a similar view of a portionof a fabric knitted into plain mate- 5 rial with enlarged loops on theinner surface, and Fig. 8 is a view of a portion of fabric knitted inplain knitting when coarse wool is used.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in each figure. My attachment is particularly adapted to aknitting-machine in which two yarns are Fig. 6 shows an enlarged view ofused, which yarns are adapted to be fed through separate feeding-eyes.

A is the needle-cylinder, and B the needles,

.which are held in the cylinder in the usual manner and operated bymeans of certain cams, which it is not necessary here to describe.tation from any suitable source of power.

G is an arm which is held in a suitable socket on the flat portion ofthe cam-ring E,

The cam-ring always derives its roiu which the cylinderA is held. Thearm 0 at the top extends out at right angles to a point over the centerof the cylinder A.

D is a spindle which extends up through the hub c of the arm 0 and isprovided at the top witha threaded end on which fits the adjusting-nutF. Upon the lower end of the spindle D is secured the wheel-supportingarm G, which extends out radially and is provided with anupwardly-curved and laterally-extending outer end g, from which extendsdownwardly'the stops g at each end. The spindle D, hereinbeforedescribed, is held so as to turn stiffly, and thereby provide for theadjustment of the outer ends of the arm G, by means of a set-screw d,which extends through the hub c and abuts the leather strip (1, heldagainst the spindle D.

H is the standard of the yarn-carrier, which extends through a slot 71.in the horizontal portion of the ring I do not claim the construction ofthis portion, and I do not describe 1 it further. 8

I is the yarn-carrier, which consists of the portions 1' and 1 Theportion'I is secured to I the standard H by the screws 1', and suchportion extends upwardly and inwardly in curved form into proximity withthe needles, it being provided with the eyes i i, one preferablydirectly over the other. The portion I is bent so as to form a fork withone prong shorter than the other. and is fastened to the portion 1' bymeans of a pin i r 5 1 and 2 are feeding-holes situated one directlyabove the other and on a line with the holes t" and t respectively. 3 isa hole in the outermost end of the portion 1 The holes 3, 2, and t" formthe guiding or feed holes for the yarn 5, passing into the needles,while the holes 1 and 6 form the feed-holes for the upper yarn 6. Theseyarns may be of difierent color.

J is the toothed wheel, which I show in Figs. 1, 2, and 5 provided withlong teeth 3' and short teeth j. The long teeth j, it will be noticed,are narrow at the point and are formed intermediate of their length withshoulders 7' The short teeth are of sufficient width and narrow at theirpoint, so that they mesh uniformly with the needles, the same as thelong teeth j. The wheel is set so that the long teeth project betweenthe needles or outside of their periphery, and yet both the short andlong teeth also mesh with the needles, and thereby convey a rotarymotion to the wheel. The yarn is operated upon by the needles in theusual way; but as the upper yarn 6 passes into the needles it passesover the point of each long tooth j as it rotates, as shown in- Fig. 5.It will therefore be seen that the long loops are formed by the needlesdrawing the thread down between the long teeth, the said long teethacting in connection with the needles like the ordinary sinker edge ofthe needle-cylinder in forming the loops. The short teeth do not engagethe thread, and consequently the loops intermediate of the long loopsare formed of short length by being drawn over the ordinary sinker edgeof the needle-cylinder. The wheel J being set any desired distance abovethe cylinder, it will necessarily be seen that the distance the top ofthe wheel is above the top of the cylinder will regulate the length ofthe loops 6, which are formed by the teeth projecting into the needlesand acting in conjunction therewith. I show in the drawings some of theloops formed and passing over the teeth, while the other loops 6 as thewheel rotates are freed successively from the points of the teeth ordropped off the periphery of the teeth j. The reason thatI form eachalternate tooth j short is so that I can produce the loops 5 on theinside of the web and allow of the formation of external stripes by thediiferent-colored yarn 5, such stitches on the needles being indicatedby 5. The wheel J is journaled on a spindle J which is held in thedovetail-shaped sliding block J in the arm G. The spindle J is fixed inany suitable manner in the sliding block J and the wheel J turns on thelower beveled end J of the spindle. It will thus be. seen that the wheelmay be moved radially inwardly or outwardly, as desired, so as to bringit into a proper operative position in relation to the needles andyarn-feeders. It is held in place in such operative position by aset-screw K. The wheel J may be adjusted vertically by means of the nutF on the upper end of the spindle, so as to lengthen or shorten the loopformed to the interior of the stitching.

In Fig. 4 I show a detail of a wheel with all the teethj formed as longteeth, very similar to the teeth j in the wheel described as to Figs. 1,2, and 5. It will be noticed that the teeth in both wheels have aconcaved or upper side, so that the points of the teeth extend upwardly.The lower sides of the teeth are beveled so as to extend upwardly from apoint at about the pitch-line of the teeth to the upper outer point.

Among the advantages derived from the construction of myattachmentsviz., the wheel J and its coacting parts-there may bementioned not only the striping and looping simultaneously or thelooping done alone, but also that such wheels J may be used forcontrolling the length of the stitch in ordinary knitting by adjustingit vertically in relation to the needles.

It will be seen that with the thread 6 the one loop is formed over along tooth of the wheel J and that the next loop is formed over the edgeof the needle-cylinder, as ordinarily. This makes a series of short andlong loops of the thread 6, and these long loops when the color ofthread 6 is different from thread 5 will appear as in Figs. 7 and 8intermediate of the courses and will produce a striped effect.

In the use of my machine of course I provide a suitable means forcarrying one or more bobbins, this depending, of course, upon theconstruction of the machine. I am enabled also by moving the arm G sothat one =or the other of the stops comes against the feed-arm to throwthe engaging portion of the tooth-wheel away from the feeding-point ofthe cam-carrier, so that the looping-teeth of the wheel will be out ofaction at the period when the loop should be formed, and then no loopcan be formed, and this is an important desideratum, as will beunderstood by those accustomed to the use of knitting-machines andknowing the value of changing the style of the stitch for formingarticles where no loop is requiredsuch, for instance, is the wristbandsof mitts, the lining of which would be formed by loops.

In Fig. 6, 5 and 6 represent the lower and upper yarns, respectively. Itwill be noticed in this figure that each loop formed by the yarn 5 is ofan equal length, whereas the loops formed by the yarn 6 are alternatelyformed in a long loop and a short loop. This is caused by knitting thismaterial with the wheel J. It will be noticed that this wheel hasalternately long and short teeth, whereby the yarn 6 is alternatelyformed into a long and short loop by merely being caught by the longteeth to form the long loop and missed by the short teeth, so as tocause a loop of an ordinary length to be formed. By knitting the fabricin this form with two threads of a different color a stripe is formed inthe material when the material is drawn tight. Of course the figureshows the material in a greatlymagnified scale and a very loose form.

In Fig. 7 it will be noticed that the yarn 5 is made in short loops ofequal length and the yarn 6 is made in long loops of equal length. Thismaterial is knitted by the wheel shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings as theynow stand.

This wheel has long teeth of equal length, whereby the yarn 6 is knittedinto long loops.

This form of fabric is for a plain material.

WhatI claim as my invention is- 1. The combination with the cylinder andneedles thereof and a feeding-arm and two feeding-eyes therein, locatedone substantially above the other, of a wheel held on a suitable supportsuspended over the center of the machine and provided with teeth hav-'ing recessed upper sides and the point of each tooth narrow and thetooth tapered from point to base, so as to form a broad base and anarrow space between the bases of the teeth in which the needles mesh asand for the purpose specified.

2, The combination with the cylinder, and needles thereof, and afeeding-arm and two feeding-eyes therein located one substantially abovethe other, of a wheel held on a suitable supporting-arm suspended overthe center of the machine and provided with al ternate long and shortteeth, both of which are designed to mesh with the needles and thelonger teeth being adapted to carry the yarn to form the loop as and forthe purpose specified.

3. The combination with the cylinder, and needles thereof, and afeeding-arm and two feeding-eyes therein located one substantially abovethe other, of a Wheel provided with teeth meshing with the needles andconstructed as specified, the supporting-arm carrying the wheel, thespindle carrying the supneedles thereof and a feeding-arm and twofeeding -eyes therein located one substantially above the other, of awheel provided with teeth meshing with the needles and constructed asspecified, the supporting-arm carrying the wheel, the slide in which thewheel is journaled, such arm having a dovetailed groove into which theslide fits and means for holding the slide stationary in the groove asand for the purpose specified.

5. The combination with the cylinder and needles thereof and afeeding-arm and two feeding-eyes therein located one substantially abovethe other, of a wheel provided with teeth meshing with the needles andconstructed as specified, the radial arm carrying the wheel andsupported on a spindle over the center of the cylinder and provided withan outer end and extending laterally to each side of the arm andprovided with stops, the extension-arm carrying the spindle andsupported on the rotatable part and a pressure device located in the hubof the arm against the spindle as and for the purpose specified.

RICHARD IRVINE CREELMAN.

Witnesses:

M. MACLAREN, R. SHIELDS.

